Radstock and Westfield has received its £1 million of Lottery share in recent years, but Midsomer Norton may also have won the jackpot, with news that the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), has agreed to establish a ‘Love our High Streets’ fund of up to £10 million across the region. Midsomer Norton is to be one of the three main schemes put forward by B&NES Council, with a combined pot of £1 million.

The driving force behind the initiative was Midsomer Norton Mayor, Cllr Paul Myers, but in his role as B&NES Cabinet Member for Economic & Community Regeneration, who put forward three locations in B&NES – Midsomer Norton, Bath City Centre and Twerton.

He says: “Retailers in our city, town and local centres are facing increasing competition, originally from out-of-town shopping and more recently, from the meteoric rise of online shopping. As a result, footfall has been dropping, and so our town centres need to fight back by looking at what they offer, both in terms of products and services and also the way they promote themselves.

“If an increasing amount of ‘commodity’ shopping is to be done elsewhere, the retail experts indicate that traditional High Streets need to move towards doing all they can to improve their appearance and provide more of a leisure experience or service-based offering. Another key requirement is to promote local retailers online – so that when customers use Google or other search engines, they can see the item they want is also on sale down the road, as well as on sites such as Amazon.”

The Midsomer Norton Shopper Survey carried out in late 2017 within The Journal was instrumental in preparing the funding bid to WECA by providing some hard data on the challenges faced. The study showed that infrequent visitors to Midsomer Norton High Street are higher spenders; they also spend more online, but not as much as the top 25% of spenders. It also revealed that eating out and clothing, together, account for around a fifth of the overall monthly spend.

Going forward, the key challenge for those wishing to rejuvenate the High Street is to identify how the infrequent shoppers can be encouraged to spend more of their monthly budget in Midsomer Norton. In terms of shopping ‘destinations’, it was clear that online outperformed all rival destinations, such as Bath, Wells, Frome and Shepton Mallet.

The survey also asked shoppers what they would like to see on an ideal High Street, with the results being good customer service, car parking and price, along with the variety of shops, as the top priorities.

Whilst Midsomer Norton High Street performs relatively well in terms of customer service, when it comes to variety of shops, access to public toilets and the appearance of the High Street, these are areas where improvements clearly need to be made.

Since the survey, the Town Council says it has been doing its best to address these issues. An office hours public toilet has been opened at the Town Hall with signage, the new Modern Library in the Hollies has improved toilet facilities, and all of the town’s offerings are now listed online. Major town signage improvements are about to be installed, and efforts redoubled to improve the state of the general streetscape. In addition, most recently, Wetherspoons has invested heavily and opened the once derelict Palladium, and it is generally accepted that this has given a boost to footfall, bringing in people from a much wider area.

The WECA funding looks set to focus on how to improve the variety of what is on offer to shoppers; learning from the experience of Frome, with markets and pop-up shops.

It is thought proposals will also be brought forward to address the built streetscape; particularly in terms of Bob’s Palais/Norton Discounts which, with their location between South Road and the High Street, offer much potential for modern retail space at the heart of the town. This will also involve working with shopkeepers, landlords and B&NES Council on a range of issues, including online shopping, with support considered for all businesses in how they present themselves online and if they have a social media presence.

Landlords and tenants are likely to be encouraged to look at ways to decorate and repair shop frontages in a bid to make the High Street more presentable. The money may also be spent on more signage, to direct people more effectively from major routes, such as Bath.

Whilst this pot of money will come from Government-funded WECA and some from B&NES Council, the local authority will now be working with key stakeholders in the coming weeks to explore the feasibility of the various proposals.

So, what do you think the £1 million should be spent on? And will you be doing your Christmas shopping in Midsomer Norton High Street? Let us know! Email: [email protected]